In general, the present invention relates to modeling tools with wire-ends for cutting, carving/scraping, shaping/modeling, molding, and texturing a variety of soft materials (such as wax, soft clay, and plaster before they are hardened or fired into a final product such as sculptures, pottery, dishware, tiles, beads, walls, etc.). More particularly, this invention relates to a new modeling tool having a handle with at least one releasably secured sculpting end which can be replaced, without causing destruction of the tool, with a different sculpting end to achieve different modeling effects or if the sculpting end becomes worn, cracked, or broken.
The unitary wire-end sculpting tools currently used for shaping soft arts and craft materials into final products, are designed and built so that many different tools are required to achieve different modeling effects. Traditionally, one must have access to a different sculpting tool with a different wire-loop cross-section, shape, size, or stiffness to change the texture produced by scraping the wire-end over molding material, to change the size or depth of cut, or to change the wire edge sharpness to accommodate different material consistencies, etc. And in the event of breakage of a wire-end from one of these known sculpting tools, since the sculpting wires are permanently integrated with the handles, the whole tool must be thrown away and replaced with a new tool.
In its 1995 catalog, Peters Sculpture Supply (one known supplier of sculpting tools, equipment, and materials) displays a typical example of such known wire-end sculpting tools. In this catalog, each tool shown has at least one wire-end of a particular shape and size, permanently integrated with a handle. Wire-ends that have been shaped, and perhaps notched, are secured with ferrules that have been press-fit and permanently adhered to wooden handles. Smaller wire-end tools are displayed in the Peters Sculpture Supply catalog as "MINIATURE LOOPS"; they have smaller loop wire-ends that are likewise permanently integrated with pencil-shaped handles. It is no surprise that suppliers benefit from the sale of many of these known sculpting tools (which are inexpensive to mass produce, and yet often priced to reflect their high demand). However, for the artists working with soft, moldable materials to produce a variety of final arts and craft works, it becomes very costly to maintain a working full set of these known wire-end sculpting tools.
As the number of different available moldable arts and craft materials continues to grow, so does the number of different types of arts and craft end products; which in turn, creates a greater demand for sculpting tools that can produce a wider variety of modeling effects. Both hobby and professional artists, therefore, find themselves with a great need for many different sculpting tools having different cross-sections, shapes, sizes, and stiffness. To meet this increased demand without requiring artist-users to purchase many different whole modeling tools, and to reduce the waste associated with throwing away tools with broken, worn, or damaged sculpting wire-ends, the new modeling tool described herein was designed.
The particular design of the X-ACTO knife cutting tool is well known. A knife blade is sandwiched between the flat surfaces of two fingers, each having a half-round cross-section with its rounded outer surface threaded. A knurled collar, threaded along its inner surface so that it fits around the two half-round threaded fingers, is twisted to hold the X-ACTO knife blade in place between the two flat surfaces during use.
The particular design of a German PICKETT.TM. mechanical-compass (similar compasses are also supplied by Staedtler Mars and Koh-I-noor) is well known to those who create technical drawings by hand. Both the compass point and the writing implement (such as a piece of thick pencil lead) are sandwiched between two metal fingers spaced slightly apart, each having an inwardly and oppositely facing groove for receiving either the point or lead. A threaded screw with a large knob on one end and a nut on the other, extends through both metal fingers at a position along the fingers above the point or lead (to leave room for inserting the point or lead into the oppositely space-apart grooves). Twisting this large knob causes each metal finger to move together to grasp and hold either the point or lead in place during use.
Very distinctive from known tool designs is the new modeling tool described herein. It's simple and practical, by design. With its unique handle design and wire-end securing mechanism, this new modeling tool is capable of accepting and securing a wide variety of wire-ends with a variety of thicknesses, cross-sectional shapes, loop sizes and shapes, and stiffness, for cutting, carving/scraping, shaping/modeling, molding, or texturing a wide variety of soft, moldable materials into final products. The new handle and securing mechanism operate together to allow both hobby and professional artists to handily exchange one wire-end for another while their work is in-process. Additionally, with this new tool design, artists now have the flexibility to design and shape their own modeling wire-ends using a variety of readily-available shop and household materials. This can make maintaining a working full set of modeling tools, much less costly.